


rinse, repeat

by archiveofwebs



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: (but not really Peter save them), Banter, Bitchy Jonah, Creature AU (with some entities thrown in there), Human Sacrifice, Jonah!Elias, Kraken Peter, M/M, Mordechai!Peter, Sassy Peter, town legends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:02:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24302578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/archiveofwebs/pseuds/archiveofwebs
Summary: There’s a creature that they say lurks beneath the fogged over ocean. The ocean once had a name, but in order to make sure that no one ever dared to trek it or test it, they removed the name from every page and map. You were scolded if you spoke it, mentioned it. It was erased from history and mind.-However, the creature can be contained, if only for a bit.Sacrifice.-Written for the prompts: Creature, Encounter, Fated
Relationships: Elias Bouchard/Peter Lukas
Comments: 1
Kudos: 31





	rinse, repeat

**Author's Note:**

> Slowly making headway on those Peter prompts! Slowly but surely...
> 
> I think all my Mer-May prompts are gonna involve Kraken Peter somehow...just watch me...
> 
> Anywho...enjoy!

_ \- Creature - _

There’s a creature that they say lurks beneath the fogged over ocean. The ocean once had a name, but in order to make sure that no one ever dared to trek it or test it, they removed the name from every page and map. You were scolded if you spoke it, mentioned it. It was erased from history and mind. 

The creature itself was a mystery, said to be large and formidable, capable of destroying ships with one large up-sweep of one of it’s massive appendages. 

The beast never came on land though, never broke the surface of shore. 

At first, it was hard to tell when the creature would strike, would crush, would destroy. Then, one lonely sailor realized, just before his death, that the fog thickened before an attack and then thinned when the beast was done. 

That information never reached the shore obviously. 

A royal vessel, one of research, was the one to report back that the near permanent fog upon the waters was the key factor to determining where the creature was, and maybe it’s emotions. 

(It was a shot in the dark regarding how the creature was feeling, but men like to think they were superior. Especially the four hunters about the vessel.)

So, excited with their discovery, the researchers went back to their patron, hands shaking their papers and empty pockets hungry. 

It’s simple, they said. When the fog is thick, the creature is near. When the fog is thin, the beast is lying deep in the ocean. If one wanted to explore or fish, do so during periods of low fog.

At the same time, the hunters went to their tavern, unhappy with their lack of prey but armed with another story. 

Making sure they stayed faceless while doing so, they spun a rumor around the tavern, stating that an old wise woman was overheard saying that when the fog is thick, the beast is hungry. Feed it, and the beast delves deep back into its home. 

Rinse, repeat.

-

Elias Bouchard stood, back straight and hands at his side, staring out at the fogless ocean.The night was pitch black, the sliver of the moon not bright enough to illuminate anything. The only source of light was a small flame near his feet, encased in a gold lantern with green tinted glass. 

“I know you are there, you can come out.”

There was nothing, no foot falls, no twigs snapping, but within moments, a man hovered just behind Elias’s left shoulder. 

“Disappointing.”

“...you saw my true form last week. Thought you might want to explore something different.”

“It’s not  _ exploring _ , it’s education.”

“I have many things I can teach you.”

There was a moment of charged silence, before Elias broke into soft giggles, hands coming up quickly to cover his mouth. They moved to cover his whole face when he felt lips press into his hair. 

“You are a despicable man, absolutely the worst.”

“Now, now dear. Words can hurt.”

“Shut up.”

Elias gave a startled yelp as he was pulled down toward the ground, ending up sprawled in the other man's lap. 

“Then I guess we will sit here in silence.”

“Wouldn’t that be nice.” Fingers pinched his side and Elias rolled his eyes. Leaning back into the freezing chest of the other man, Elias sighed and intertwined their hands. 

“Fine then, Peter dear, tell me a story. Educate me.”

_Repeat_.

\-  _ Encounter  _ -

  
  


There’s a creature that lurks beneath the ocean. The ocean has no name, it was lost long ago. 

However, the creature can be contained, if only for a bit. 

_ Sacrifice.  _

No one knows how the story spread, how it started, how something like sacrificing something or someone would tame the creature, but it spread like wildfire. 

Many people were for it, a way to be able to make sure the beast stopped killing their fellow townspeople. 

Many people were against it, unsure of why they needed to tame it, as the ocean provided little of value to them, it was just a body of water, and not the only body of water attached to their land. 

Torn, they did what they thought was best. 

Five days later, someone no one would miss went missing. 

And the fog disappeared for a few days. 

-

The only man made sound that echoed in the cove was the sound of quill on paper, distracting from the natural sounds that sang around the man writing. 

“You are quite the distraction, you know.”

Elias said nothing as two men approached the shore, one looking bored and the other terrified. 

“There’s food, water, and new clothes in the shack just up the shore. Make sure to eat something before you sleep. When you are well rested, we will take you to a nearby city.”

The man frantically nodded his head and scurried up the sand. He didn’t bother to even look at Elias. 

“Hm.”

“...Elias Bouchard?”

“Yes. I thought it was about time that I changed my name again. I’ve published a little too much under James Wright that people have started to look for him, and we can’t have that.”

“You could always go back to Jonah.”

“And you could go back to Mordechai.” The mer-creature sat next to him and picked up one of the sheets of paper, frowning distastefully at it. 

“Mordechai makes me feel old. Peter though. Very-”

“Middle aged.”

“Average.”

“Average? Maybe you’ve been in the water for too long.”

“Mordechai is not a popular name, dear. It would definitely raise eyebrows if I went around saying I was Mordechai Lukas.”

“Ah yes. I forget that you actually had something of a name for yourself, all those years ago.”

“You tend to forget most things that don’t involve you.” 

Peter grinned sharply as a hand came swatting at his head, catching the attacking limp and bringing it toward his mouth. Giving the freckled skin a kiss and a little nip, Peter brought it down to rest over his heart as he laid back on the sand.

“So who’s the man?”

“A scholar named Jonathan Sims. Very interesting, his story. Apparently he’s from a small village where modern times are still very far out. Apparently-”

“Stop saying apparently, just speak.”

“ _ Apparently,  _ they heard the story of that ocean centuries past and only recently started their sacrifices.”

“You’ve never mentioned this place.”

“It used to be animals and crops. Apparently they’ve upgraded to people. He’s the first.”

“Pretty severe for a fishing drought. They could just- oh.”

“So you See?”

“Apparently Forever Blind started leeching at their crops. What a pain. I’ll talk to Rayner.”

“I was just happy to be in the area. I’ve always hated that myth. It’s kind of pointless to sacrifice someone if you have nothing to sacrifice them to.”

“You’re just simple. It’s the mentality, the effect that it has. The only reason their crops had problems was because Rayner was meeting Fairchild in that area and they got into an argument. Now that they are gone, the crops will be fine and they will think that it was because they sacrificed Mr. Sims. They will probably keep up with their sacrifices but move them back down to animals and crops. Should another Entity make their way near that village, they will assume that a body is needed and sacrifice another one. Rinse, repeat.”

“You humans are very weird. Very...brainy.”

“Brainy. Really Peter.”

“Like you said, I’m a simple person. I swim, I sacrifice. Rinse, repeat.”

“Well then.” Slamming his journal closed, the human stood, not even bothering to dust off his pants before he began to walk away. 

He barely made it five steps before large arms pulled him back and held him close. Elias wrinkled his nose at the smell of seawater and fish.

“And I like you. Love. Whatever. I suppose I swim, I sacrifice, and I feel. Happy?”

“Delighted.”

They stood in silence for a moment. 

“I think you would like him.”

“What?”

“Jonathan. He’s a scholar, like you. You can do scholarly things together and stop making me read your essays. They are quite boring.”

“I have an editing team that does that for me, Peter. You just like to critique them.”

“If you say so. Guess we can just send him away.” Peter let Elias go and walked past him and up towards the house, hands slipping into his pockets. 

“He was talking about some pretty interesting things during our travels though. Said he was often told stories that people wouldn’t normally share, usually involving severe amounts of fear. And did I mention the eye that seemed to be seared into his neck? But I guess I’ll call Basira and have her take him out past that city with the whale store. I can never remember the name of it.”

“Eye? Stories? Peter? Peter! Peter, come back here!”

Peter grinned as he heard Elias scrambling up the shore, papers probably forgotten and scattered. He quickened his pace, humming an old shanty to drown out his husband's angry yells. 

He’ll have to give Martin a call in the morning, let him know that they’ve found their Archivist. 

-

Jonah Magnus was by no means a widely disliked man. He was charming, handsome, rich. 

However, he was known to be quite the dick to some very trigger happy people and that was how he found himself on a very small and badly put together dinghy. 

Rolling his eyes (still only two, not for lack of trying), he startled only slightly when the boat rocked violently. 

“Oh please don’t mess around. Either just kill me quickly or let me die of starvation. I don’t have time for games.”

The boat rocked violently once more and then sunk a little deeper into the water. Jonah turned his head sharply, eyes widening at the sight of a man. 

“Pretty brave to yell at Kraken.”

“Oh, a Kraken? Thought you were a whale. Both giant blobs of ocean fish.”

“Someones bitter.”

“Someone is having their time and life wasted because feeble minds will believe anything.”

“Poor little Watcher.”

“Wha-”

Jonah had been born in that town, had been raised there his whole life. He was still young (well a young adult) when he found that fateful book that opened many eyes for him, and it had been some years since then.

Turns out even the smartest and all seeing can miss the little things.

“Forsaken.”

“Mordechai actually.”

“Charming. Jonah Magnus.” They didn’t shake hands, didn’t turn their bodies toward each other. Jonah lifted his gaze toward the sky and Mordechai turned his toward the water.

Silence settled between them as the moon swam across the sky. 

As it began to fade behind daylight, a heavy fog settled in. 

“I do believe I said make it quick.”

“Yes, I do believe you did.”

“Well, get on with it. Or leave. I’m not really picky at this point.”

“How about a third option?” The human didn’t turn to look at him, but Mordechai knew he was listening. “I’ve heard that Watcher’s like to learn things, like to observe. I’ve never met one of you, never talked to a Watcher. How about this: you come with me. I have money to spare and can get you the resources and accommodations you need to do whatever you Watcher’s do with your knowledge. I tell you stories about myself, my family, our kind.”

Jonah still didn’t turn to face him, but Mordechai caught the clench of his hands, caught his eyes shifting in thought. 

“And what do you get? You wouldn’t give all that away just to be nice.”

Mordechai didn’t respond right away. 

It went silent again and the dinghy rose slightly. Jonah startled when a long appendage breached the water to lay a bottle on his lap. A small piece of paper lay inside.

_ Sometimes, even those accustomed to loneliness need companionship.  _

\-  _ Fated  _ -

“Fine.”

  
  
_Rinse._

**Author's Note:**

> I just...really love Kraken Peter. I really do.
> 
> Also fun fact: almost 90% of this fic was not planned and just happened while I was writing. 
> 
> -
> 
> I'm chillin over on twitter [@sassymordechais](https://twitter.com/sassymordechais)! 
> 
> (Do not base fanfics after my fics. Thank you.)


End file.
